ERIE, Pa. - Wisconsin women's hockey junior Abby Roque tallied her first collegiate hat trick to lead the No. 2 Badgers to a 6-1 win over Mercyhurst on Friday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

The reigning WCHA Forward of the Year scored a pair of power-play goals in the first period before scoring late in the second period to become the 29th player in school history to record a hat trick.

Roque put the Badgers on the board six minutes into the first, firing a loose puck into the net after Mekenzie Steffen hit the post on a power play.

Twelve minutes later, Roque raced up the right side of the ice, hooking back and firing a shot from behind that net that rebounded off a Mercyhurst defender into the net.

Sophia Shaver capped off the period with her first goal of the year with 54 seconds remaining to give UW a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

After Annie Pankowski scored her first of the year five minutes into the second, Roque found the back of the net again to give UW a 5-1 lead after the second period.

Freshman Britta Curl scored her first collegiate goal with just over a minute to go to cap off the scoring for Wisconsin.

Play of the game

Roque's third goal came off a series of pretty passes for the Badgers. Steffen passed the puck to Sam Cogan, who found Roque alone on the left side for the tally.

Three notes of the game

- Mekenzie Steffen set a career high with three assists as she earned helpers on all three of Roque's goals. Her three points were tied for a career high as she recorded a three-point night against Robert Morris in 2017.

- UW head coach Mark Johnson is now tied with Mercyhurst head coach Michael Sisti for second in NCAA history in career wins with 462.

- Wisconsin outshot Mercyhurst 35-21, including a 17-4 margin in the second period.

Straight from the Rink

UW head coach Mark Johnson
On the win:

"Well I think being the first road trip, playing in a tough building and Mercyhurst, the history of their program and what they've been able to do, I mean they're predicted to win their league, so we knew it was going to be a competitive environment."

"I thought in the first period we made some mistakes on our own end but that's part of coming in here. Once we got through halfway through the first period I thought we played really well. The only time we had a real hiccup is when we took three straight penalties, two consecutively and you get down 5 on 3."

"Overall, it was our first road game in a rough environment and the kids responded well and it was a good game."

On Abby Roque's hat trick:
"On the road especially if you get early power plays which we did, we scored one on the first and then scored on the second one, that certainly bodes well for you as a team. With our speed and our puck movement we created a bunch of chances. We look for depth in our scoring and I was happy Sophia Shaver got a goal tonight, Britta Curl and Annie Pankowski got a goal tonight, and obviously Abby played well and her power-play unit played very well. You're looking for little things here to build on and certainly tonight being our third game, we continued to work on some things and continued to improve."

Junior Abby Roque
On the hat trick:
"Obviously I had some puck luck, both went off a skate and a goalie on the first two, but I had really nice passes from my linemates, Sophie Shirley and Sam Cogan and they made it really easy for our line to be productive today."

On getting the road win:
"I think we are extremely happy, we are known to be better playing at LaBahn Arena than on the road and I think to show that this year we're coming out strong no matter where we're playing is a good start for the year as a whole"

Up Next:

Wisconsin wraps up its series with Mercyhurst on Saturday with a 2 p.m. CT contest in Erie, Pennsylvania.